J. Andrew Schulze

John Andrew Schulze (19 July 1774 – 18 November 1852) was governor of Pennsylvania from 1823 to 1829. Of German heritage, Schulze entered the Lutheran ministry, but his ministry was halted by illness in 1802, and he became a merchant in Lebanon County. He was first elected to the state legislature in 1806 and served in a succession of minor offices before being nominated for governor in 1823 by the Family Party of Jeffersonian Democrats. Riding the wake of the popularity of Andrew Jackson, Schulze won re-election in 1826 with ninety-eight percent of the popular vote. Schulze oversaw the expansion of the state's canal system and pushed for the creation of a public school program.